The U.S. is starting talks on a new military aid deal for Israel as support for the country hits an all-time low. Israel’s supporters are feeling the pressure and pushing for cosmetic changes, but don’t fall for it. We need a full arms embargo now.
Rep. Joaquin Castro’s recent letter calling on the Trump administration to acknowledge Israel’s nuclear arsenal joins a long history of members of Congress addressing the taboo topic. It is now time to take action and end the official silence.
On Wednesday, the Senate can act to block weapons to Israel by halting the delivery of the bombs and militarized bulldozers Israel has used to displace and ethnically cleanse more than three million Palestinians and Lebanese from their homes.
Shay Hazkani’s “Dear Palestine” is an incredibly valuable contribution that uses meticulous archival research to upend our understanding of the 1948 war.
By opposing and prohibiting funding to many of the Israeli policies of military occupation that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people, and by increasing the transparency around US weapons flows to Israel, Representative Betty McCollum’s latest bill is the boldest effort ever by Congress to ensure that the United States is no longer complicit in Israel’s denial of freedom to five million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
A bipartisan group of Senators introduced a bill last week to advance the normalization of ties between Israel and Arab governments. The bill builds on the Trump administration’s cynical business deals with Arab governments to further their interests at the expense of the Palestinian people. It is highly doubtful the Biden administration will oppose it.
By attempting to scuttle international judicial efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions, the Biden administration is continuing a bipartisan pattern that stretches back at least to the George W. Bush administration.
Republican Members of Congress are calling on the Trump administration to reclassify which Palestinians are considered refugees — a move which would constrain the Biden White House, and could fatally harm the Palestinian demand for the right of return.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered today to Israel two parting gifts of inestimable value on his farewell tour of the Middle East, the importance of which go well beyond his visit to the illegal Israeli colony of Psagot in the Palestinian West Bank. His last-minute moves to further legitimatize Israeli annexation, and delegitimatize opposition to Israel’s apartheid rule over the Palestinian people, will be difficult for the incoming Biden administration to reverse.
Earlier this month, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) introduced a bill with potentially far-reaching and unprecedented implications for Israel’s ability to nix US weapons sales to the Middle East. H.R.8494, the Guaranteeing Israel’s QME Act of 2020, would mandate the president to consult the Israeli government “for information regarding Israel’s qualitative military edge” before the selling weapons to other Middle Eastern countries.